⭐️TOM THE DANCING BUG’S INNER HIVE - 9/3/24
For Inner Hive only, with a special preview for all subscribers
Hello, pals.
So, on Thursday morning, this article was published by The New Yorker.
New Yorker writer Sarah Larson contacted me about writing an article about the comic strip and my new book back in June. We eventually met at an East Village restaurant in July, and had a long, wide-ranging conversation over hummus and baba ganoush.
I'm so happy that she was able to turn my ramblings into this coherent thesis, and I'm honored by her interest in and enthusiasm for Tom the Dancing Bug.
One of my favorite parts of the process was when I was subjected to The New Yorker's famously meticulous fact checking process. A very nice woman called me up just prior to the article's publication and we spent about 45 minutes going through the piece. She'd paraphrase every written fact and ask if it's true.
Like when she asked me if the giant nap-taking alien Shluff is fluffy, I had to say, "Actually, I'd describe him as scaly. But then again, it's not really up to me; it's up to the reader to interpret the drawing."
The description of Shluff was left at "fluffy."
I feel guilty that I diverted the resources of one of our most important journalistic institutions to questions like this.
But what a wonderful reaction I've gotten to the article! It's the type of thing that kind of transcends my usual readership, and I've gotten notes from family, friends, people I've lost touch with, etc. I'm hoping it will lead to even more publicity for the book.
Between this and the great response to the Get Out the Vote Inner Hive Drive (see below, one more time), I had an even better week off in Cape Cod last week.
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Last Chance for the Get Out the Vote Inner Hive Drive
Wake the kids, phone the neighbors! This is the last time I'll remind the Inner Hive about the GET OUT THE VOTE INNER HIVE DRIVE, in which I pledge to donate $25 to Spread the Vote, a nonprofit that empowers voter turnout, for every new Inner Hive membership, through 9/9. Info is here.
If you’re a free subscriber to The Tom the Dancing Bug Review, this post ends here, and I’ll see you on Friday. Inner Hive subscribers get access to the rest of this dispatch, including this week’s upcoming comic, incisive commentary on that comic, a picture of the comic when it was just an undrawn idea, this week’s upcoming Classic Tom the Dancing Bug, a new song by a musical legend, a photo of Otis the Wonderdog in action, and more!
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